Fate and Chance
by Link's Rose
Summary: Rebecca Meadows' life is turned upside down and inside out when she encounters the Doctor from her dreams at her school, and he's asking for HER! What adventures does the Doctor have in store for this strange girl, and why was he looking for her in the first place?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hello, then! I know the title's a bit corny, but give the fic a chance! I don't own Doctor Who. I own Rebecca/Tara. End of story._

* * *

Chapter 1 - Change

* * *

_A watch. It can be so many different things. But what if you could hide a whole part of yourself within, say, a simple pocket watch? Memories, even the essence of yourself, sitting there in hiding. This may sound familiar to you; you may have seen the Doctor, on the run from the Family of Blood, turn himself into a human, hiding the essence of Time Lord inside a simple silver watch. _

_He and the Master were not the only Time Lords who hid within a Gallifreyan pocket watch. They were just the only ones ever found out. Well, until a few years ago. That was when I got my memory, my real memory, back. And when I first met the Doctor._

_I wasn't supposed to be alive. Whoever my parents were, they broke so many laws, just to ensure my survival, as one of the last Time Lords. I'm the last female, and I'm barely more than a child. Why am I that young? Two of the broken laws I mentioned._

_On Gallifrey, use of the Chameleon Arch is strictly prohibited to those under a certain age, as is time travel. Though, that was right before the eruption of the Time War. As a young child, I was sent through time and space to a simple planet called Earth, in the year 1996, far after the end of the war. As soon as my parents and I arrived, they made me into a human, hiding my true self away in the Gallifreyan watch. Then, they left in their TARDIS, forever._

_Now, I was Rebecca Meadows, adoptive daughter of Jackson and Alicia Meadows. For another sixteen years, I was Rebecca Meadows..._

* * *

I was almost nineteen, I was in Grade 12 attending the local High School, and I was excited; I had just gotten my first report card of the semester first class that morning; I was getting a B in Science, an A in Math, an A in Drama, and a B in Woodworking. It wasn't that I was bad, I just took too long sometimes.

"Rebecca!" I heard a voice call me. I turned around to see my friend Lauren Shorecoat rushing up to me. She looked worried. I winced as a sudden pain ran through my head. My hands flew to my temples, though from experience I knew it wouldn't help any.

"Lauren, what is it?" I asked, forcing myself to look up.

"There's this man at the office, and he's asking questions about you!" she whispered. "His friend is calling him 'Doctor'." she added. I shivered at the name. For some reason, it just sent pleasant chills through my body, like he was an old friend I hadn't seen in years.

"Well, I have to go to woodworks, so if you'll excuse me..." I moved to walk past my friend. She stopped me.

"They're getting worse, the headaches, aren't they?" she asked softly. Slowly, I nodded my head. "You need to go see the school nurse, 'Becca. There could be something seriously wrong." she said, her voice worried. I shook my head.

"I'll be fine, but if I don't get to class, I'm gonna get in trouble." I said, pushing past her and hurrying down the hall, into the woodshop.

'Tara...'

I flinched slightly as I heard the voice in my mind. I'd been hearing it since I found that old watch in my closet, and it popped up at the most inconvenient times.

"That's not my name.." I muttered, grabbing my clock from the shelf in Wood Storage, to show my teacher. As I was on my way down the small flight of stairs -there were only six total, because the project storage was slightly elevated above the shop- I saw Mr. Benson talking to somebody at the door. He was wearing a simple brown suit and tie, his hair was dark and messy, and his eyes were full of hope, and loneliness. It was the Doctor.

As this sunk into my brain, I stumbled over my own feet with a yelp, falling down the last three stairs. I managed to angle my arms so my chest and upper arms took the brunt of the impact before I landed with a dull thud.

"Clutz!" I heard somebody yell from across the room, by the gluing table. I shot a fiery glare at the person who'd said it; Samuel Fletcher. I swear, he'd had it out for me since day one.

Slowly, I got to my feet, brushing sawdust off my jeans and shirt. I saw Mr. Benson and the man approaching me.

"I'm okay. I finished my clock, too." I said, showing the clock to my teacher he took it with a smile as he looked it over.

"Very well done, Rebecca. Now, your uncle is here to take you to your dentist appointment, so you're excused from the rest of the class." he said, setting my clock down at his bench. When his back was turned, I sent a questioning look to the man I knew to be the Doctor, a figment of my imagination. A Time Lord. But...there was no way he could be real..

"Okay. Bye." I said nonchalantly, walking up to "John Smith" and walking out of the room with him. As soon as he shut the door I spoke. "Dentist appointment? That's the best you could come up with?" I whispered incredulously.

He looked at me curiously.

"Well, since you and I both know you're not really my uncle, why don't you tell me what's going on?" I suggested as we walked up the stairs, to my locker. "And don't say nothing's going on. When somebody that's supposed to be a figment of my imagination turns up to rescue me in my least favourite class, I tend to get suspicious. Really, wouldn't you be suspicious if you were in my position and this man that you thought was just this fictional man you'd created in your head turned up at your school? It's only making my day more crazy, as if seeing this strange blue box appear out of utterly nowhere in the football field on my way to school this morning wasn't crazy enough. Did you have something to do with that? In my dreams, you always flew around in this blue telephone box called a TARDIS. You were different though, I mean, you looked different. In the dream I had last night, you did this thing you called Regeneration, and you changed from the other guy into how you look right now, and then there were evil Christmas trees and stupid aliens that tried to take over the world by hypnotizing people into going up onto the roofs of buildings all over the world and threatening to make them jump off, even though it was an empty threat. You can't just hypnotize somebody to death." I rambled.

"Did you just say that all in one breath? That's impressive." he commented, seemingly disregarding my statements about knowing who he was. Well, until his next sentence. "I'm just as real as the air we're breathing, Rebecca. I'll explain everything soon." he promised as we reached my locker. I had the watch tucked away in my purse, and I knew he could feel it too, by the look on his face.

"Two breaths, actually." I corrected, pretending the situation was normal as I grabbed my purse, the watch slipping out and almost falling to the floor.

"Interesting watch." he commented when I caught it. "Where'd you get it?"

"The watch? I found it in my closet." I said absentmindedly, closing my locker. "All right, then?"

"Yeah. You ready to go?"

"Go where?" I asked. I knew we were going somewhere, I just didn't know where.

"To your house."

Right. Duh. We silently walked from the school, and I saw a blonde woman waiting outside.

"Well it's about bloody time!" she exclaimed. I grinned as I recognized her from one of my earliest dreams of the doctor. This was Rose Tyler.

"Sorry, that was probably my fault. We took forever getting to my locker." I apologized. A perplexed look formed on her face.

"What? Doctor, what language was that?" she asked. The Doctor was surprised, but he only barely showed it. I could see in his eyes though, the hope was overpowering loneliness.

"Gallifreyan." he answered her. My eyebrows shot up, disappearing into my bangs.

"This is just too much..." I whispered, taking a slow step away from the two. Then, without further hesitation, I turned right around and ran. My house was only a few blocks away, I could make it. At least, that's what I was telling myself.

'Tara, it's time to wake me up...'

"Shut up!" I growled at the voice, and I didn't stop running, even when my house came into view. No, I didn't stop until I was safely inside my house. Then I did something rather childish. After locking all the doors and windows, I ran to my room, at the top floor or the house, and hid in my closet. My parents would be home soon, then I'd have to come out.

'Tara...you can't fight it forever...I need to wake up...'

"SHUT UP!" I screeched at the voice. "JUST SHUT UP!"

'Don't you want to travel with him? I can feel our longing, our desire to reach for the stars and find other worlds... I can feel our want for him, as well.'

I blushed furiously at the voice's -completely true- accusation, though I wondered about the 'Our' bit.

"So? The Doctor can't reciprocate, so what's the point?" I retorted.

'I do not understand.'

"Do I have to spell it out? He's a Time Lord, I'm a human. He's gonna live forever, and I'm going to decay and age. I wouldn't let him reciprocate just to be hurt like that when I die. I wouldn't hurt anybody that way." I explained exasperatedly. There was a knock on the door.

"Rebecca, can I come in?" I heard the Doctor ask. I silently clambered out of my closet, letting myself walk towards the door. I never made it though. I cried out as the headache returned with such a force that it felt like my skull was being split. My hands flew to my head and I heard a scream. I think it was mine.

"Rebecca!" I heard the Doctor yell as I began falling to the floor. I heard the door bang open, and suddenly he was above me. His voice was fading from quiet to loud. "What is it? What's happening?"

"My head... It hurts!" I whimpered, curling into a ball on the floor.

"The Chameleon Arch! There was a reason it was illegal to use it on anybody younger than twenty!" he exclaimed angrily, gently picking me up off the floor. My head ended up resting on his chest, and I heard something that made me weakly frown.

"You...you have...two hearts..." I mumbled as the pain slowly faded. It was giving way to exhaustion, as the Doctor set me down on my bed. I felt him lift the blanket over me, and his small chuckle.

"So I do. Go to sleep, Rebecca. I can explain everything to you when you wake up." he promised. I nodded my head minutely before I drifted off to the world of sleep.

O

I snapped my eyes open, and I could tell by my lack of grogginess that I hadn't been out for long. Cautiously, I slid the covers away from me, shifting so my feet were on the hardwood floor. It creaked slightly, but I was used to it.

Taking the watch from my purse again, I padded down the stairs and into the living room, where I was met with a rather strange sight; the Doctor from my dreams was asleep on my parents' couch. He must have been pretty tired.

With a shrug, I went over to the computer, refusing to believe he was real. I surfed YouTube for a few minutes, before he woke up.

'Tara... I must wake up, or the pain will return!' I heard the voice again. I'd never heard it sound so urgent and worried before. I ignored it, as any stubborn human would, and returned to watching my video.

"You should listen to her."

I jumped at this new voice, not in my head, falling off my chair in the process. The Doctor was awake.

"Who?" I asked innocently. He gave me a stern look.

"Don't play games, Rebecca, I know you can hear that little voice. She's asking you to wake her up, isn't she?" he asked. I could see the knowing gleam in his eye. How did he know that? As far back as my dreams of him went, he'd never had any experiences with those watches. And, he had his 'Serious face' on. I decided I didn't like it when he had that face on.

"Yeah. But I won't do it." I said stubbornly, crossing my arms. The Doctor raised a questioning eyebrow. "If I open the watch, and wake her up, then I die, and she takes my place. My dreams of Gallifrey tell me that much. I don't want to die. I like my life the way it is, thank you very much!"

"You're not getting it, Rebecca! Your headaches are getting worse because the effects of the Chameleon Arch are reversing, and they're killing you cell by cell!" the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "The Chameleon Arch isn't meant to be used on anybody below the age of twenty and do you know why? The effects wear off, if the cells aren't fully matured adult cells! Your parents, whoever they were, had the brilliant idea to turn you into a human as barely more than an infant!" This sentence was spoken in sarcasm, but he wasn't done.

"And not only that, but they stole a TARDIS to do it. Now, the effects are reversing, and you're showing the typical trait humans are best known for; stubbornness! You won't open the watch, because you like the way things are now, but if you don't open the watch, things will just get worse and worse, and your human body can't take it! Eventually, it won't fade away, it'll be a constant skull-splitting headache! The pain will drive you mad, and eventually everything will just stop; your brain, your heart, everything will give up and stop, and I will lose the last female Time Lord in existence!"

Ice filled my veins as those last seven words were spoken. The last female Time Lord in existence. Was that the reason he came? He found out about me? But...no, I couldn't be one of his kind. As if he could read my mind, the Doctor spoke again.

"That's the beauty of the Chameleon Arch, it rewrites every cell in your body. But, when you open the Fob Watch, everything will rewrite itself properly, and you'll be the same species as me." he explained. Slowly, I nodded my head, though the other information was still sinking in.

"So, I'm a Time Lord that got turned into a human?" I asked, just to clarify. He nodded. "And, I'm the last female Time Lord as well, correct?" Another nod. "Okay. So, this voice I'm hearing in my head, that's...me? I'm asking myself to wake me up?"

"Yep, that's all of it in a nutshell." he said, turning instantly cheerful. His happy smile was infectious, and despite the situation, I found myself grinning back. Then I had one last question.

"If I open this watch, I'll turn into one of your kind, and travel with you, right?" I hesitantly asked.

"Yep." he practically chirped. I grinned again at his answer. Then it seemed he had a question. "Hey, what does the watch call you? What name does it use?" he abruptly asked as he sat down in the chair next to me.

"Tara."

"Hm. I figured it would have been something longer." he mused.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Just because. So, are you ready to open the watch?" he asked. I thought on his words from earlier, and nodded my head.

"I think it'd be safer to do it somewhere a little more open, or does it matter?"

"Doesn't matter, unless you want to do it in the TARDIS. Your other self will find it familiar, less chance of her panicking." he answered. I nodded.

"That sounds a little better." I said with a small smile.

"Well then, Allons-y! If you want to pack anything, do it now. I'll go get the TARDIS while you're doing that." he said, jumping to his feet and striding out of the house. I watched after him for a moment before getting up off the floor and running up to my room. I took all of two minutes to throw some clothes and other necessities into a duffel bag before I was running down the stairs again, and out the door. I ended up running right into the Doctor the moment I was outside, and we both fell to the ground, our faces less than an inch apart. With a fiery red blush on my cheeks, I rolled off of him and stood up, stuttering out an embarrassed apology.

"No harm, no foul." he said nonchalantly, getting back on his feet. Looking past the Doctor, I saw a familiar blue police box; the TARDIS. I grinned at the familiarity it emanated. I walked up to it happily, opening the doors, when I stopped.

"Wait... What? Wait... Right! It's bigger on the inside!" I exclaimed, going inside and stepping out again, marvelling at the impossibility of what I was seeing. I heard the Doctor laugh at my childish excitement as I ran a small circle around the outside of the TARDIS.

"Shall we go in, then? Rose is waiting." he said. I nodded my head and darted back in. He closed the doors behind us, and the excitement faded as I pulled the watch from my pocket. Rose was there, but I hardly took notice of her.

"Doctor, what's that?" she asked when she noticed the watch in my hands.

"A watch. A special watch." He looked to me, then. "Are you ready?"

With a shaky inhale, I nodded my head, looking to my hands. With a single shaking finger, I pressed the button, and the watch snapped open, bathing the inside of the TARDIS in an unearthly golden glow.

The source of the glow floated upwards a little bit, until it was generally the same height as my heart. The golden orb flew into my chest with such a force that I was thrown backwards.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca, I'm so sorry, but this is going to hurt." I heard the Doctor apologize as he caught me.

"Is it supposed to?" I asked breathlessly, the force having knocked the air out of my lungs.

"Not usually, but you're a rare case. I'm gonna put you to sleep. When you wake up, it won't hurt." He said. He put two fingers on my temples, and I was quite suddenly overwhelmed by drowsiness.

"You gonna be there... When I wake up?" I asked, barely remaining awake, just as the painful process began.

"I'll be right here, Tara." he promised. Those were the last words I heard before I lost consciousness again.

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_A/N: I promise, the next chapter will make a little more sense. Hopefully. Maybe. BYE_!


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hello again! Well this is exciting, two chapters in one day! :D I dont own doctor who._

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_Chapter 2: Past, Present, and Future_

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_"We have to use the Chameleon Arch, and send her away!"_

_"You know we can't do that!"_

_"If we don't, she will die with the rest of our race!"_

_..._

_Pain. Endless pain, like every cell in my body was being broken._

_..._

_"Jackson, look!"_

_"A child. Sweetie, what're you doing out here all by yourself?"_

_"I... I no know... Who a-re you? Are you dad and mum?"_

_..._

_"Your name is Rebecca. Rebecca Meadows. You're our daughter."_

_..._

_"Life forms detected! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINAAATE!"_

_..._

_"And where's your precious Doctor now? DEAD! Do you know why?! I KILLED HIM!"_

_"Get away from her!"_

_..._

_"He's gone. He's not coming back."_

O

**"**Rebecca. Rebecca, relax!"

"Doctor, I don't think that's working!"

"Tara, calm down, it was just a dream. You're okay, you're fine."

Accompanying these words, I felt myself being cradled in somebody's arms, like an infant. I was being slowly rocked, back and forth, and there was a familiar beat of two hearts sounding in my ear, from the chest my head was laying on.

"Bad dream?" a female inquired.

"Nightmare. At least, most of it was." the male corrected. "I only got a few flashes of what was going through her head, but whatever she saw, it terrified her." he added, and I felt the rocking motion stop. The tears that I hadn't noticed pouring down my cheeks had stopped, and my throat felt raw. Had I been screaming? I felt my heartbeats slowing down, and I moved closer to my mysterious source of comfort.

"Are you okay now?" the man asked. I opened my eyes, and realized he was my mysterious comforter. Wiping the remaining tears away from my face, I hesitantly nodded my head. "Good. Now, important question; do you remember me?" he asked. I wracked my brain, trying to figure it out.

"Are you... the Doctor?" I asked. He grinned widely.

"That I am. Very good, Tara." he praised. I grinned like a child, and realized what he'd called me.

"Tara? Is that... Is that _my_ name?" I asked. He nodded his head. "Okay... Where am I?"

"You're in my ship, the TARDIS." he answered. "This is my friend, Rose Tyler." he then introduced the woman next to him. I nodded in greeting.

"So... The TARDIS. I haven't seen one in awhile. Where'd you get it?" I asked. I wondered why this was coming so naturally to me, but brushed it off.

"He stole it." Rose answered for him.

"Oi! I borrowed it!" he cried indignantly. I rolled my eyes, and I felt myself remembering. My dreams, my friends, my life as Rebecca.

"So where are we going then? End of the Universe? Ancient Rome? Oh, I wouldn't mind going back to the moon landing, or- OOH! What about into biblical times? That would be so amazing. SHAKESPEARE! We could go and actually see one of Shakespeare's plays! Wait...another idea! We could go and meet celebrities, before they were famous! Or famous people from before our time! That would be fun. Oh, there's just so many options!" I squealed, my regular personality returning, but my rambling was cut off when my stomach growled. My face flushed red. Rose and the Doctor laughed.

"I think food should be our first stop." Rose corrected. I grinned.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." I agreed, and the blush faded from my cheeks.

O

"So, my dreams didn't show me all that much about the TARDIS, and my memories aren't helping me much. So, run that by me again; you have a kitchen, a garden, multiple bedrooms, a library with a pool in it, a countless-floored wardrobe room, a study that only the doctor's allowed in - that you go into anyways, Rose - not to mention the main room where the controls are?" I asked, amazed.

"Yep, that's it in a nutshell, home sweet home. But the best part is that it never ends, you can just keep adding rooms! We actually also put in a games room just a little while ago, but we don't really use it much- anyways! Food. To the kitchen!" the Doctor rambled. I laughed happily. It had been a long time since I'd felt such a strong sense of belonging, anywhere. And, the kitchen got all that much better when I saw the Doctor had some of my favourite foods and snacks.

"I think I'm in love!" I said jokingly as I pulled out a box of Frosted Flakes. This sounded like it was gonna be fun.

O

Since the Doctor wanted me to get reacquainted with the TARDIS before we went on any trips, I spent the next two days exploring. And I got the general feeling that the TARDIS wanted me to visit the study on this particular night, because she kept switching the rooms around so that I kept seeing the door to the study, no matter where I was in her. With a well-meaning sigh, I smiled at the ceiling.

"Alright. You win." I whispered, padding into the study. I saw the Doctor on the couch, immersed deeply in a book. Hesitantly, I circled the couch and sat down beside him.

"Wat'cha reading?" I asked softly. He lifted his head up, meeting my curious gaze with his impassive one.

"Not much, chemo-biology." he said nonchalantly. I blinked at him tiredly.

"I'm not even going to pretend I understand what that is." I decided, leaning my head against the back if the couch and curling into a ball. I heard him chuckle.

"I said that once, too. Back when I was in the academy. It was well over a hundred years before they let me graduate." he said amusedly. I cracked one eye open, giving him a deadpan look.

"You were in school for over a century. Dear god, humans can't stand twelve years!" I cried exasperatedly. Then I giggled. Wow, I really was tired. But I remembered the Doctor said that was to be expected, after opening the watch. Even though the procedure itself, transforming to Gallifreyan from human, hadn't gone the way it normally would, nothing had gone wrong with it. The change physically exhausted my body, though, which was why i was so tired.

"Doctor.." I mumbled, already struggling to stay awake

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me about Gallifrey?" I asked. Silence followed the question. "When I regained my memories, I kept hearing the word Rassilon. Who's Rassilon?" I continued. More silence. I opened both eyes, and saw that his had a far-off look in them. Then he came back to reality. Nodding his head, he stood up and grabbed a large book off one of the shelves, flipping through it until he came to an image of what appeared to be a burning planet.

"It started here." He began quietly. "Long, long ago, when humans were still funny little lemurs and the Medusa Cascade was a forming cloud of gas, before we truly understood time, before we were even really Time Lords, there was a man. His name was Rassilon. And there was a war. The First great Time War. A war the people of Gallifrey brought down on themselves. Those were the Dark Times. Many people died. Millions. And when that war was over, something new started. A new people were born. You see, the man Rassilon… " His voice curled quietly through the room, tales mixing into the shadows and the firelight, weaving millennia of shared history, shared suffering, and eons of knowledge.

At some point in his explanation, we ended up sprawled on our stomachs on the floor, with the book in front of us, and the fireplace beyond that. Eventually, I laid my head on my arms, facing the Doctor. His words faded into the background, and I just studied his face.

The dark brown, gravity-defying hair. The smile-lines around his eyes. The dimples in his cheeks when he smiles or laughs. The soft, slightly pink skin of his lips, moving quickly as he explains the history of our planet. The light brown eyes, full of so many emotions, so many layers.

On the surface, he's cheerful. Beneath that, he's lonely. And beneath that, he's the Oncoming Storm. Anger, fury, and pain boil and burn just beneath the surface of those friendly brown eyes. The fury and pain of a survivor of war.

"Tara? Are you listening?"

I blinked quickly as I was pulled from my dazed state. I'd heard everything he'd said, and a small part of my brain filed it away for later, but I was still tired, and forcing myself to stay awake. It was just so cool!

"What?" I asked dumbly.

"I said, it's almost morning, and the fire's gone out." he said, amusement dancing in his eyes. Those warm brown eyes...

_'Not the time to be thinking that.'_ I scolded myself. Then I yawned, stretching my arms like a cat, before I set my head on my arms again, just looking at the Doctor.

"What're you staring at?" he asked quietly. I shrugged limply.

"You." I decided. "You and your...Time Lord...ness." I mumbled, unable to think of a better word. Then my face saddened. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. For what happened to our planet, and that you had to go through it..." I whispered, tears pricking at my eyes.

"You have no reason to apologize, Tara. And I'm okay. I can't say I've gotten over what I saw, but I've come to terms with it." he said, standing up. "And now, I think we can go on our first trip tomorrow." he added with a grin. I smiled back, standing up in front of him.

"Where are we gonna go?" I asked. He shook his head at me.

"Well if I told you, that'd spoil the surprise!" he exclaimed. I pouted at him, and he just chuckled. "Alright, you. Off to bed." he said sternly. I sighed, and went to my room. I was asleep within minutes.

* * *

_A/N: Frosted Flakes are my favourite too. Also, Tara won't be sleeping as much soon. Time Lords don't sleep as much, remember?_


End file.
